RU2316150C2 - Communication device for connecting a client to group call in group communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: systems for connecting a client to a set of clients.

SUBSTANCE: method and device are claimed for connecting a client to phone call in group communication network, which provide for receipt of an instruction from client who wishes to initiate a group call, and transmission of group call client addition request into server in case of presence of realized group call, which also ensure receipt of response from the server, which indicates presence of realizes group call, notification of client about addition to group call and receipt of media data from server after restoration of traffic channel.

EFFECT: ensured substantial reduction of common inactive state exit time and time of delay due to continued exchange of service group call signals even in case when mobile stations are inactive, or any active traffic channel is absent.

4 cl, 18 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to multi-subscriber communication systems. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for adding a subscriber desiring to initiate a group call to a group call in case there is an ongoing group call.

State of the art

Over the years, there have been various forms of providing a category of wireless communication services designed to provide fast, efficient communication of one subscriber with another subscriber or one subscriber with many subscribers (group communication). In general, this service was half-duplex, in which the subscriber, before starting a conversation, presses the push-and-talk button, PTT, located on his telephone / radiotelephone. Pressing a button either switches his radio station, which is the case in some embodiments, or indicates the subscriber’s request for “telephone rights” (floor), which takes place in a small system in which any server. If the talking subscriber is granted the right or permission to make a telephone conversation, then the subscriber then usually speaks for several seconds, after which he releases his NiG button, and a request for the right to a telephone conversation can be received from other talking subscribers. Communication is usually carried out between one talking subscriber and a group of listening subscribers, but individual communication of one subscriber with another subscriber can be made. Such services have traditionally been used in applications where it is necessary to ensure that one person, referred to as the “dispatcher,” communicates with a group of people, for example, field service personnel or taxi drivers, and this is where this type of service comes from as "dispatch communication".

A similar type of Internet service has been proposed, which is commonly known as "voice messaging" ("voice chat"). These services are usually implemented in the form of personal computer applications that provide vocoder frames in the form of Internet Protocol (IP) packets, that is, the service for transmitting voice data over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) to a central server for group interactive voice messaging ( "group chat") or, possibly, from one client to another client with peer-to-peer service.

The main distinguishing feature of these services is that communication, which is usually initiated simply by pressing the NiG button, bypassing the usual sequence of dialing and phone call operations, is quick and direct. In this type of service, communication is usually very short-term, with the presence of separate “sharp bursts” of speech activity, the duration of which is usually of the order of several seconds, while the duration of “conversations” can be equal to one minute or less.

The time delay between the moment the subscriber issues a request for the right to a telephone conversation and the moment he receives from the server a confirmation that he has been granted the right to a telephone conversation and that he can start talking or that he has been denied this right, which is known as the delay time of the NiG function, is an important parameter for half duplex group communication systems. As mentioned above, dispatch systems give priority to short, fast conversations, which leads to lower service efficiency if the delay time of the NiG function becomes longer.

Existing group communication infrastructures provide limited opportunities to significantly reduce the delay time of the NiG function, that is, the actual delay time of the NiG function cannot be reduced so that it is shorter than the time required to restore traffic channels in the absence of activity during packet transmission sessions data. In addition, traffic channels between the talking subscriber and listening subscribers are created sequentially, since the only available mechanism for activating an inactive group is to wait for the restoration of the talking channel's traffic channel for signal transmission to the server. Currently, there is no other way to transfer subscriber service data originating from a mobile device than through a traffic channel, which is a limitation requiring the restoration of traffic channels before any connection can be established between clients and the server.

Therefore, there is a need to create a tool that reduces both the delay time of the NiG function perceived by the talking subscriber and the total time required to restore the traffic channels for the participating mobile stations without negatively affecting the system capacity, the battery life of the client device, or to other resources.

In the dispatch communication model, communication between endpoints is carried out within virtual groups in which the voice of one “talking subscriber” is broadcast to one or more “listening subscribers”. One of the communication options of this type is usually called a dispatch call or just a call. A call is an implementation of a group that defines the characteristics of the call and, in essence, a list of participants with some information associated with it, which, for example, is the name of the group or the identifier of the group. The list of participants is a list of one or more subscribers invited to participate in a call.

There is a need to create such a dispatch communication model that provides support for both a discussion group model and a specialized group call service model. In the discussion group model, the groups are defined, and information about them can be stored in the dispatch server. However, in a specialized model, groups can be defined and / or modified in real time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the disclosed embodiments of the invention, a new and improved method of adding a subscriber to a group call in a group communication network, which is used in a communication device and which consists in receiving instructions from a subscriber who wants to initiate a group call, and transmitting a request to the server adding a subscriber to a group call if there is an ongoing group call.

According to another technical solution, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium in a communication device that implements a method of adding a subscriber to a group call in a group communication network, the method comprising said operations.

According to another technical solution, the present invention provides a communication device for adding a subscriber to a group call in a group communication network, which comprises means for receiving instructions from a subscriber wishing to initiate a group call, and means for transmitting to the server a request to add a subscriber to a group call the presence of an ongoing group call.

According to yet another technical solution, the present invention provides a communication device for adding a subscriber to a group call in a group communication network, which comprises a receiver, a transmitter, and a processor coupled to support communication with a receiver and a transmitter, wherein the processor is configured to receive an indication from a subscriber who wants to initiate a group call, and transmitting to the server a request to add the subscriber to the group call if there is an ongoing group call. According to one of the proposed technical solutions, the communication device is a push-and-talk device (NiG).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Distinctive features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings, in which the same reference numbers in different drawings indicate the same nodes, respectively, and which depict the following:

figure 1 shows a group communication system;

figure 2 shows how several application programs interact with each other;

figure 3 shows an example of a subscriber registration process according to one embodiment of the invention;

figure 4 shows an example of a process for establishing intra-regional telephone connection, carried out locally, according to one embodiment of the invention;

5 shows an example of a process for establishing an intra-regional telephone connection from a remote location according to one embodiment of the invention;

6 shows an example of a process for establishing an inter-regional telephone connection made locally, according to one embodiment of the invention;

7 shows an example of a process for establishing an inter-regional telephone connection from a remote location according to one embodiment of the invention;

on Fig shows an example of the process of exiting a group call according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 shows an example of a group call termination process according to one embodiment of the invention;

figure 10 shows an example of a process for transmitting a group call alert according to one embodiment of the invention;

11 shows an example of a process of joining a group call with a delay according to one embodiment of the invention;

12 shows an example of a process for giving a talking subscriber a pre-emptive right according to one embodiment of the invention;

13 shows an example of a process for adding new participants to an active group call according to one embodiment of the invention;

on Fig shows an example of a process for removing participants from a group call according to one embodiment of the invention;

on Fig shows an example of a process for unregistering a subscriber according to one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 16 shows how several communication devices interact with a communication manager according to one embodiment of the invention;

on Fig shows the buffering of media from the side of the communication manager according to one embodiment of the invention,

on Fig shows the buffering of media data from the client according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before a detailed explanation of one embodiment of the present invention will be provided, it should be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the details of the design and layout of the components set forth in the description below or illustrated in the drawings. The invention can be implemented in other variants of its implementation and performed in various ways. It is also understood that the phraseology and terminology used here are for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting.

Figure 1 shows an example of a functional block diagram of a group communication system 100. A group communication system 100 is also known as a push-and-talk system, NiT (PTT), a network broadcast service system, an NLS system, a dispatch communication system, or a "single-subscriber-multiple-subscriber" communication system. In one embodiment of the invention, the group communication system 100 comprises such components of an application server as, for example, dispatchers, location servers, media management device complexes, UMD (MCU), usage information registration servers, and network protocol client devices Internet (IP) (wireless and / or wired devices capable of supporting Internet Protocol (IP) communications). The components of the application server can be placed either in the form of a centralized layout, or in the form of a zoned layout based on the functionality of the component. The centralized location scheme may comprise a home network manager 102, a BSS (HD), a home network location server 104, a COMS (HLS), and a subscriber / group database 106. These components can be located centrally in the network of the service provider and can be accessed from regional location schemes. Centralized components can be used to determine the location of roaming subscribers and to initiate inter-regional group calls. The regionalized location scheme 108, 110 may comprise a regional location server 112, an RLSO, a regional dispatcher 114, an RD (RD), a complex 116 of a regional media data management device, a UMD (MCU), and a regional server 118 for recording usage information, SRSI (ULS).

Zoned deployment schemes can be distributed across the service provider's network, which minimizes network latency associated with making a telephone connection to meet the immediate response requirements. Distributing the load of a telephone call across several zoned systems also provides the ability to develop adequate stackable circuits to support a large number of subscribers. Zoned components of the application server provide registration of subscribers, establishment of an intraregional telephone connection and its management, as well as the initiation and transmission of alerts for subscribers registered in this region.

Group devices 120, 122 (clients), which can be placed in the handset of the 2000 Code Division Multiple Access standard, CDMA-2000 (cdma2000), for example, issue a request for permission to a packet data session using the standard selection option data services and use this communication session to register their IP address through the application server and initiate a group call. In one embodiment, application server components 108, 110 are connected to packet data service nodes, PDSNs, available on a service provider's network. After issuing a request to obtain permission for a packet data session from the wireless infrastructure, clients 120 and 122 are able to connect to components 108, 110 of the application server via the Internet Protocol (IP) through the nodes UOPS.

Upon power up, clients 120, 122 may issue a packet data session using the provided data service. As part of the operation of establishing a packet data session, the client is assigned an IP address. At this point in time, the client also obtains the address of the domain name service (DNS) server 124. The client 120, 122 issues a request to the domain name service (DNS) server 124, for example, using a service record search operation, SRV, in order to find the address of the RSOP 112. After determining the location of the RSOP 112, the client 120, 122 can execute registration by notifying the application server by transmitting information about its location, for example, an IP address. Registration can be made using the Internet Protocol (IP), for example, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) over User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The IP address of the client 120, 122 can be used to establish communication with the client when inviting the subscriber to participate in a group call.

In one embodiment of the invention, after registration is complete, the client can perform another search of the domain name service (DNS) LSS record in order to find the address of the regional dispatcher 114. The client contacts the regional dispatcher whenever a subscriber issues a request to start a phone call, or sends a warning. The means of interaction between the regional dispatcher 114 and the client 120, 124 may be a signaling protocol using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

After the establishment of a group call, the client 120, 114 and the complex 116 UUMD exchange information messages and messages about a phone call. In one of the embodiments of the invention, the transmission of information between the participants of the telephone call and the complex 116 UMD can be carried out using the real-time transmission protocol (RTP) over the transmission of user datagrams (UDP). Call messages can also be implemented using a signaling protocol over a user datagram protocol (UDP). These protocols and the functionality they provide are described below.

COMPONENTS

The group communication system 100 may include Internet Protocol (IP) endpoints containing client software, as well as regionalized and centralized server components that are necessary to provide group communication services. A more detailed description of group communication clients and application server components is provided in the following sections.

CLIENTS

A group communication client 120, 122 can operate at any endpoint of an Internet Protocol (IP) that has access to an appropriate vocoder (corresponding vocoders). The endpoints of the Internet Protocol (IP) may contain application programs running in a wireless communication system, for example, a CDMA-2000 standard system (cdma2000), a basic tool platform for developing application programs, such as a binary program execution environment for wireless communications (BREW), and personal computers.

The client may comprise an application program that can be developed using the Binary Wireless Program Execution Environment (BREW), and means for interacting with the mobile station modem software, PIMPS (MSM), which can be downloaded to a client device containing the binary execution environment Wireless Software (BREW). The Binary Wireless Program Execution Environment (BREW) is a tool platform that provides developers with the ability to create applications that can work in client communication devices. The Binary Wireless Program Execution Environment (BREW) provides an isolation layer for the application developer, allowing application development without direct communication with the POMPS software (MSM) and the integrated equipment manufacturer software, OEM (OEM). This allows you to quickly carry out the development of application programs and their evolutionary development, regardless of POMPS and / or the software of the integrated equipment manufacturer (OEM). It also provides the ability to download application programs to any device containing a binary runtime for wireless communications (BREW). As shown in FIG. 2, a group communication client application program 202 can be executed in parallel with other application programs 204, 206, 208, 210. Along with the fact that these services can be provided directly through the interaction tools provided by the integrated equipment manufacturer software 212 (FFP) and PIMPS 214, the Binary Wireless Program Execution Environment (BREW) provides isolation from changes made by the application program at these levels. This allows the evolutionary development of software 212 of the manufacturer of integrated equipment (FFP) and POMPS 214 separately from information applications 202, 204, 206, 208, 210.

To ensure the effective functioning of the client in a personal computer, the personal computer may contain means of access to a compatible vocoder, means of access to sound drivers, and means of communication with application servers via the Internet Protocol (IP).

LOCATION SERVER

In one embodiment, a location server, COM (LS), can receive and / or store subscriber location information, such as a network layer IP address, a subscriber’s physical location, such as longitude and latitude, and / or packet identifier, that is, by the method of radio communication over direct communication channels of general use, a system identifier is broadcast, indicating the scope of the UOFAP, providing packet data service for this Wow sector. In one embodiment, COM can include a component that processes client registration and transfers location information to other applications, such as an instant messaging program using an interface based on a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

COM can contain two functional elements: a regional location server 112 (RSOP) and a location server in its own network (COMS) 104. The RSOP 112 can be located in each of the regions, and COMS 104 can be centralized. A detailed description of these nodes and their functions is given below.

REGIONAL LOCATION SERVER

RISO 112 may process and store data on registration of customers located within its region. In one embodiment, the RSOP 112 is a standard COM based Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) with a corresponding storage device for storing subscriber location information. As part of the registration data servicing operation, the RSOP 112 may check the expiration date, namely the expiration field, for each registration data. RSOP provides guaranteed deletion of expired records, and information about deleted records is transmitted both to the regional dispatcher (RD) and to COMS.

As described above, clients can register using the Internet Protocol (IP) to notify the application server of their location. Customers may retain their registrations for the duration of their suitability for group communication services. Customers can re-register in case of changing the IP address of the client and before the expiration of the registration period.

When registering or re-registering a client, the RSOP 112 can notify the corresponding RD 114 about this. This allows the RD 114 to preload the data about the subscriber in preparation for issuing requests for establishing a telephone connection, which therefore reduces the time it takes to establish a telephone connection. RD 114 can cache subscriber location information, which eliminates the need for RD 114 to communicate with the RSOP to retrieve subscriber location information during a telephone connection procedure.

In the event that the subscriber’s location information is updated or deleted from the RSOP 112, the RSOP 112 can notify the RD 114 about this. This ensures the synchronization of the RSOP 112 and the RD 114 with respect to the latest information about subscribers registered in this region.

The POPO 112 may also periodically update COMC 104 through the location information of registered subscribers. In the event that RSOP 112 submits for consideration to COMS 104 information about registration of a subscriber who already has a valid registration in another region, COMS may resolve the conflict situation.

LOCAL SERVICE DEFINITION SERVER

COMC 104 may process requests for subscriber location information. In one embodiment of the invention, COMS 104 provides a SIP-based communication protocol enabling other applications, such as an instant messaging application, to request a location information for a particular subscriber.

In the event that COMS 104 is a centralized component with which the PRSPs are in communication, COMS can make decisions regarding multiple registrations in different regions for roaming subscribers. COMC 104 may receive registration information from each RSOP. If COMS 104 receives information about multiple registrations of the same subscriber, then COMS 104 can save information about the most recent registration and issue a request to delete obsolete information about registration (registrations) of the subscriber from RSOP servers. This, in turn, can initiate the deletion of cached information about this subscriber from RD 114, corresponding to the RSOP that contains outdated registration information.

DISPATCHER

The dispatcher can facilitate the process of establishing a telephone connection by determining the location of subscribers and by providing for group calls a complex of 116 media control devices (UMD). A dispatcher is a server component that is key to meeting the requirement for direct access. To ensure the shortest time of establishing a telephone connection, the dispatcher may contain two functional elements having a similar structure and functionality, but different placement strategies. These two elements are the regional dispatcher 114 (RD) and the dispatcher 102 own network (BSS), a detailed description of which is given in the following sections.

REGIONAL DISPATCHER

RD 114 may be a starting point of communication for requests for establishing a telephone connection and requests for transmitting alerts. RD 114 can preload the information about the subscriber at the time he receives from the RSOP 112 an indication that the subscriber is registered. Along with information about the subscriber, RD 114 can cache information about group calls made in the system. During the establishment of a telephone connection, the RD 114 can use the cached information about subscribers and groups to minimize the time to establish a connection, that is, searches in the database may not be required.

In one embodiment of the invention, the group information that RD stores in the cache contains a list of group members and the address of the UMDD complex 116 in which the group is executed. RD 114 may save the list of participants and the address of the UMDD for the duration of the telephone call. This helps RD 114 quickly determine whether the incoming telephone connection request contains a definition of a group identical to the group for which the corresponding telephone connection is already active in the system, which allows the RD to quickly respond to telephone connection requests and respond confidently to them or Reject the phone call request.

RD 114 may approve or reject a call control request. RD 114 may decide whether it should issue a request to add a subscriber to the telephone call as a participant who "joined late" to complex 116 UUMD or initiate a new telephone call with the corresponding list of participants.

When processing a request for establishing a telephone connection, RD 114 can use the subscriber information in the cache to retrieve information about the location of subscribers specified in the request for establishing a telephone connection. If the location of the subscriber cannot be determined, then the taxiway 114 may issue a request to determine the location of the subscriber in the DSS 102. In one embodiment of the invention, if the location of at least one or more destination subscribers is determined, RD 114 proceeds with the procedure for establishing a telephone connection. Once the location of the destination subscribers has been determined, RD 114 may decide which UMD should provide the telephone call. This determination can be made based on the IP addresses of subscribers included in the group, including the call initiator.

Processing requests for sending alerts RD 114 can carry out similarly to processing requests for a telephone connection. In one embodiment of the invention, the execution of the processing of the request for sending alerts is provided to the local UMD system 116 regardless of the location of the destination subscribers.

In one embodiment of the invention, information stored in the taxiway cache can be periodically written to a reliable memory device, which makes it possible to recover it in the event of a malfunction. After recovery from a taxiway failure, information about the subscriber and about the group recorded on a reliable storage device can be reloaded into the cache and the taxiway resumes the verification operation of the information placed in the cache along with the processing of incoming requests for establishing a telephone connection.

In one embodiment, RD 114 downloads subscriber data to the local cache after each notification of subscriber registration received from RSOP 112. By eliminating the need to perform several database searches while establishing a telephone connection, RD 114 significantly reduces the amount of time required to verify the accuracy and response to requests for establishing a telephone connection or requests for transmitting alerts.

RD 114 can access the database 106 about subscribers / groups during the procedure for establishing a telephone connection to present addresses of a predetermined group, if available in the request, in expanded form as lists of individual subscribers and, if necessary, converting alternative identifiers of subscribers or groups , for example, phone numbers, conference IDs, to the canonical address (canonical addresses).

OWN DISPATCHER

Dispatcher 102 own network (BSS) can track information about the location of registered subscribers. The BSS may contain location information for subscribers who have registered with the RSOP 112.

As described above, each RSOP 112 may send a notification to its corresponding RD 114 upon each fact of registration, re-registration, refusal to register, or upon expiration of the registration period of subscribers. RD 114 may use this information to download or display information about the subscriber stored in its local cache. Each taxiway 114 may update the DSS 102 through the location information of the subscriber. Since DSS 102 receives updates from RD 114, DSS 102 can assist in the search for subscribers scattered across different geographical regions. RD 114 may issue a request for assistance from the DSS 102 in the case when it receives a request for a subscriber who is not currently registered in the region, that is, information about which is not available in the subscriber information stored in the RD cache.

DOMAIN NAME SERVICE SERVER (DNS)

In one embodiment of the invention, a group communication system 100 may utilize a service provider's Domain Name System (DNS) server 124 to provide customers with location information for the RSOP 112 and the taxiway 114. This information may be arranged in each zoned arrangement and periodically updating to ensure its correctness.

In one embodiment of the invention, each client finds out the address of a domain name service (DNS) server by negotiating an Internet Protocol Control Protocol (IPCP) during the establishment of a point-to-point connection (PPP) session when it asks for a packet data session. The notification of the domain name service (DNS) server 124 may be implemented in this manner for each of the regions. This allows the client to move from one region to another region and communicate with the domain name service (DNS) server 124 in the region in which the client is located. A domain name service (DNS) server 124 is located in each of the regions in such a way that it is associated with each UOPS. In one embodiment of the invention, an update of the domain name service (DNS) server 124 can be performed by each RD 124 and the RNS serving the DFNS to which the domain name service (DNS) server 124 is associated.

In one embodiment of the invention, the algorithm used to locate the corresponding RD 114 and RSOP 112 is based on a combination of domain name service (DNS) addressing and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). A search for a domain name service (DNS) record can be performed based on the "<domain>" part of the universal resource identifier (URI) of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) under which the client is registered. A request for an SLZ record may contain a protocol or service that the party issuing the request is trying to find. For example, in the case of an attempt to determine the location of the RSOP 112, the client may request a “registration service” when searching for a domain name service (DNS) service record. The domain name service (DNS) response may contain information about one or more active networks and the port addresses of the server providing the requested service. A domain name service (DNS) server 124 can be used to balance the load between servers providing the same service, allowing a domain name service (DNS) server 124 to perform a round-robin service between multiple servers when returning responses to client requests.

SUBSCRIBER / GROUP DATABASE

In one embodiment, the subscriber / group database 106 is a central repository of subscriber and group information. For each subscriber, the database may contain information such as, for example, subscriber’s address, pre-emptive right rank, information about the subscriber’s authentication, information about the possibilities of communication with the subscriber and the flag of legal interception, which indicates whether the subscriber is being monitored. The database may also contain descriptions of predefined groups, which for dispatch services based on the discussion group model are lists of subscribers and the corresponding group name. Each group can be uniquely identified, for example, by the address of the group. The client can use the group address to identify the group in a group dialup request. RD 14 can use the group address to retrieve the corresponding list of participants from the database 106 of subscribers / groups when they receive a request to establish a group telephone connection with the specified predefined group.

MEDIA CONTROL DEVICE COMPLEX

The complex media control device (UUMD) may contain the host nodes of the media control (HUMD) and a media control device (UUMD). HUMD can serve as a host and manage many processes performed by UMD. Each UMDD can control the transmission of service signals in real time and the processing of media for a single telephone call. The functions performed by the UMDD for a telephone call may include the following functions:

- processing data on the distribution of telephone calls coming from RD 114,

- transfer of information about the download and status in HUMD,

- transferring information about initiating a telephone call to customers,

- processing the transmission of telephone call service signals from clients, for example, requests from NiG devices,

- ensuring reliable delivery of call messages to customers,

- copying and distribution of media for telephone calls "from one subscriber to many subscribers",

- ensuring the conversion of media using the appropriate transcoder for "mixed" vocoder telephone calls "from one subscriber to many subscribers",

- current monitoring of telephone call activity and initiating the completion of a telephone call based on the lack of activity in the information stream,

- creation of information about the use for the server 118 registration of information about the use (SRSI)

- sending media and service information to the appropriate point of lawful interception upon request.

UUMD can process requests for the transmission of alerts received from RD 114, transmit warning notifications to the client and wait for the receipt of acknowledgment messages from clients. After receiving acknowledgment messages from destination clients, the UMD releases any resources allocated for processing requests for sending alerts. At this point in time, the UMD can process other data on the distribution of telephone calls or requests for sending alerts.

Usage Registration Server

SRSI 118 can exist in each region and can be combined with the complex 116 UUMD. SRSI 118 can collect data about the facts of use coming from the complex 116 UUMD, for each processed telephone call or warning, format them with conversion to record data about the use (DDS) and then store these DPS in the form of a sequence of files DPS. The LDP for telephone calls may contain information about individual telephone calls, including a list of participants and the results of the participant’s use of communications. The AHI for alerts may contain information indicating the sender of the alert and the destination subscribers to whom the alert was sent. ZDI files can be collected by the service provider for billing analysis and can be deleted after a specified period of time.

SRSI 118 can record a single SDI for each fact of a telephone call at the end of each telephone call. SRSI 118 may also record a single DDS during the processing of each alert transmission request. SDI recorded by SRSI 118 may contain the following information:

- identifier of the fact of a telephone call or identifier of the fact of transmitting a warning,

- UUMD identifier, which also means the location of the telephone call. At the beginning of a telephone call, the appropriate UMD can be selected based on the registered locations of all prospective participants. UMD may be in the same region as the initiator of the call, or in another region,

- the time the telephone call started or the warning was transmitted,

- time of the end of a telephone call or transmission of a warning,

- name and / or identifier of the caller initiating the call,

- IP address of the caller initiating the call,

- for each participant: the name of the subscriber, the address of the subscriber, the IP address of the subscriber, the total time of participation, which may be zero for warnings, and the total number of seconds during which the participant was granted the right to a telephone conversation, which may be zero for warnings.

In one embodiment of the invention, for each telephone call, one SDI is created that can display the total set of conversation fragments during the telephone call. In the event that events are recorded in the CDD based on each fragment of the conversation, this can be realized due to the requirements for additional processing load, file I / O and the amount of disk space.

Group communication system 100 performs several different functions for managing group communication services. The functions related to the actions of subscribers include the functions of registering, initiating a telephone call, ending a telephone call, transmitting warnings, joining late, arbitrating a talking subscriber, adding subscribers, removing participants, refusing registration, addressing and authenticating a subscriber. The functions related to the preparation and functioning of the system contain the functions of administration and initialization, ensuring scalability and reliability. A detailed description of these functions is provided in the following sections.

registration

In a wireless communication system, such as a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, registration is a process by which a mobile station makes its location known to the infrastructure of a wireless communication system. This location information may contain information about the geographical area in which the mobile station is located and the identifier of the base station serving the mobile station, which can be used to facilitate the efficient use of paging and access channels.

In one embodiment of the invention, the location information of the subscriber is the IP address of the client, regardless of whether the client supports communication through wireless or wired communication services. An example of an Internet Protocol (IP) that allows Internet Protocol (IP) protocol applications to locate clients by their IP address is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Among other features, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) provides clients with ways to register their IP address and other location information in the server component of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). In addition, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) provides Internet Protocol (IP) protocol applications interested in “discovering” clients with methods for issuing location information requests to the same server component of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), for example, client IP addresses.

The registration operation may include an information exchange operation between the Internet Protocol (IP) client and the server component of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for notifying and storing information about its location, which is, for example, an IP address. The server component of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) providing this functionality is a location server. The way in which the client notifies the location server of its location or of a change in its location is by registering using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP REGISTER).

In one embodiment, clients register their location information in a regional location server. Other Internet Protocol (IP) -based applications, such as instant messaging, can benefit from having each client's IP address information available in the location server. Registration can be performed by an external service or client. Figure 3 shows an example of a sequence of operations performed during a telephone call to implement the registration function.

After the power-on operation 302, the client can issue a request for a packet data session and begin the process of registering its IP address with the RSOP 112. To perform the registration, the client can perform the operation 304 of searching the SLR of the domain name service (DNS) to determine the RSOP address. After the POPN address is found in step 306, the client can register information about its location, for example, using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) registration message 308. In step 310, the RSOP can confirm the authenticity of the subscriber and give the client a response in step 312. In step 314, the RSOP can notify the regional dispatcher that the subscriber is registered, and the regional dispatcher can use this information to preload the corresponding subscriber data record, which helps reduce response time during the establishment of a telephone connection. At this point, the client may be invited to participate in a group call. In one embodiment of the invention, it may be necessary for the clients to register so that they can receive a group call, regardless of the type of data transmission capabilities they have, that is, wirelessly or over a wired communication line.

Registration information may contain the corresponding “expiration” field, which indicates how long the information on client registration can be considered valid. To ensure that the client is always available over the Internet Protocol (IP), the client can be aware of the expiration of its registration and re-register before the expiration date. Registration may also become invalid or obsolete due to other circumstances, for example, in case of changing the IP address of the client or disconnecting the communication channel that provides data transfer between the client and the location server. Clients may be aware of the state of their ability to maintain a data communications connection and whether their IP address has changed.

After the initial registration is completed, the client may allow a passive packet data session to be completed, which may lead to the release of a dedicated traffic channel. The client can monitor its packet data session to ensure that it remains valid for extended periods of time during which it is inactive and which can affect the communication session being valid, including moving to an area with a different packet transfer zone identifier, in the presence of attenuation or in case of loss of communication during servicing, as well as when receiving and / or transmitting a telephone call through a dial-up telephone th public network PSTN (PSTN). A change in the client’s IP address may occur, and the client may need to regain the ability to maintain communication with the infrastructure. When a client restores a packet data session, it receives a new IP address. The new IP address information must be transmitted to the location server to ensure that the client’s location information remains correct. This can be done by re-registering.

For a client that communicates with the location server via a wired line through a network security device (firewall), it may be necessary to maintain a pass through the network protection device by periodically “testing” the location server. This is accomplished by performing re-registration operations.

Initiate a group call

After registration is completed, the subscriber can make or receive phone calls. Before initiating the first telephone call after turning on the power, the client can perform a search operation of the domain name service (DNS) LSS record in order to find the location of the regional dispatcher. This can be done as part of the initialization process.

A “group” is associated with the initiator of the call, that is, with the subscriber who initiated the initial creation of the group, and with a list of participants containing the destination subscriber or destination subscribers. The list of participants may contain one subscriber or more subscribers, one or more predetermined groups, or the aforementioned subscribers and groups in the aggregate. In the event that the list of participants contains only one subscriber, then a telephone call initiated using this list of participants is usually referred to as a personal call. If the list of participants contains any predefined groups, then the regional dispatcher can convert the predefined groups to an expanded list consisting of one or more recipient subscribers, for example, by replacing the identifier of a predefined group from the initial list of participants with the corresponding list of participants in advance given group. After converting the predefined groups to the expanded view, the resulting list of participants can contain only the names of the destination subscribers. At this point, the regional dispatcher makes an attempt to determine the location of the recipient subscribers from the list of participants, for example, by viewing the cache of the regional dispatcher containing information about the subscribers. If the regional dispatcher’s cache contains information about the destination subscribers, then group members can be registered in the same region as the regional dispatcher. This type of group call is called an “intraregional” phone call. If there are subscribers whose location the regional dispatcher could not determine, the regional dispatcher may ask the dispatcher of his own network to help determine the location of the subscribers. A telephone call that corresponds to a group containing participants from two or more regions is referred to as an “inter-regional” telephone call.

After the regional dispatcher determines whether the telephone call is intra-regional or inter-regional, he can begin the process of determining which media management device (UMD) can serve as the host for the telephone call. For intra-regional telephone calls, a regional dispatcher can allocate a UMDD for a telephone call located in the same region as the regional dispatcher, if the UMDD resources are available in this region. The resulting telephone call using this type of telephone connection procedure is referred to as a “localhost” or local telephone call. For inter-regional telephone calls, the regional dispatcher may have to decide whether to select UMD located in the same region or UMD located in a remote region or in another country. The regional dispatcher can make this decision based on the location information of subscribers, finding the optimal path for Internet Protocol (IP) packets containing media data and service signals. If the majority of subscribers are located in a particular region, then telephone call service can be assigned to that region. If the subscribers are evenly distributed across regions, the telephone call service can be entrusted to one of those regions in which the destination subscribers are located. If UMD located in a different region than the region in which the regional dispatcher is located is allocated for an inter-regional telephone call, then the telephone call is called a “remote host” telephone call or a remote telephone call. The regional dispatcher may have information on the network topology and / or on the ability to maintain communication between the UMD and the UOAA they serve and can use this information to make a better decision on the distribution of telephone calls.

Intra-regional telephone calls

Group communication system 100 can be deployed so that most phone calls are intra-regional. Intra-regional telephone calls can eliminate the need for communication between the regional dispatcher 114 and the local network dispatcher 102 during a telephone connection. It can also be eliminated the need for communication between regions in the case when the recipient is in the same region, and telephone service is carried out through a local host, which is the case for most intra-regional telephone calls. The following sections describe the sequence of operations performed during a telephone call, the timing estimates, and the messaging schemes for intra-regional telephone calls.

Initiate a local phone call

Figure 4 shows an example of a messaging sequence for initiating a local group call. At operation 402, the subscriber can select one or more recipient subscribers, one or more predefined groups, or the aforementioned subscribers and groups in aggregate, and can click the click and talk button, NiG. At operation 404, the client can send the regional dispatcher a request to establish a group telephone connection, regardless of whether the mobile station has a dedicated traffic channel or not, which will be described in more detail below. After the request is sent, if the packet data session of the mobile station is passive, the client can initiate the process of restoring the allocated traffic channels and preparing a packet data session to ensure media activity. Over a period of time, the client can buffer the input voice data received from the call initiator.

Upon receipt of the request by the regional dispatcher, he can convert predefined groups that can be specified in the request into detailed lists of participants, which are destination subscribers. Then, in step 406, the regional dispatcher can retrieve the location information of the destination subscribers. At this point, the regional dispatcher can also determine if a group call is already in progress on the system. Figure 4 shows a scenario in which a group call is not yet in progress. The scenario of joining a phone call with a delay, the description of which is given below, explains the option in which a group call is already in progress.

After the regional dispatcher determines the location of at least one of the destination subscribers, an operation 408 may be performed in which the regional dispatcher sends a return response to the client indicating that a group telephone connection is being established. At this point, operation 410 may be performed, in which the client optimistically issues a call initiator a request to start a conversation and starts buffering his media data by performing operation 412.

The regional dispatcher can use the location information of the destination subscribers to determine the region into which the telephone call can be distributed. If it is determined that the destination subscribers are in the same region as the regional dispatcher, as shown in Fig. 4, then the regional dispatcher can allocate a regional UMD for a telephone call. In step 414, the UMDD can send notifications to the entire group informing them of the start of a telephone call. For destination subscribers, a notification transmission operation may initiate their packet data sessions to exit an inactive state and restore their traffic channels.

After the client receives a notification of a telephone call received from the UMDD and restores the traffic channel of the mobile station, the client can perform an operation 416 for sending buffered media to the UMDD. At operation 418, the UMDD may buffer the media received from the call initiator. In one embodiment of the invention, the UMDD may buffer media until a “threshold number of responses from recipients” is reached or exceeded. The threshold number of responses from recipients indicates the number of responses of destination subscribers required to begin transmitting media data. The above threshold value may be a reconfigurable parameter. After the threshold value has been reached, an operation 420 is performed in which the UMDD copies and sends the media data to those recipient recipients who, at operation 422, answered the telephone call notification.

MESSAGE EXCHANGE BY A SHORT DATA PACKAGE

The term "instant response" refers to the response time that the application server requires to respond to a NiT request (PTT) or to a telephone connection request. When answering any NiT request (PTT), including requests for establishing a group telephone connection, it is necessary to provide consistent answers to the request within a predetermined period of time, for example, in one second or less. In many cases, when a subscriber issues a request to establish a group connection, the packet data session of the subscriber is passive and there is no dedicated traffic channel. Recovering dedicated traffic channels can take considerable time. Therefore, communication with the application server can be provided by some other means.

To ensure that the group communication system meets the requirements of the "instant response", small IP datagrams can be transmitted at any time or in any direction, that is, originating from the mobile station or received by the mobile station, regardless of the state of the packet transmission session data. In one of the embodiments of the invention, the transmission of IP datagrams can be carried out in the form of a message, which is a short data packet, efficiency (SDB). In those situations where the packet data session is passive, the transmission of the efficiency message is carried out over the service channels. In the case when it is possible to communicate on a dedicated traffic channel, the transmission of the efficiency message is carried out on the traffic channel.

With reference to FIG. 4, transmission of a group telephone connection request 404 can be accomplished by an efficiency message. The transmission of a response 408 about establishing a group telephone connection from the application server can also be carried out in the message efficiency. Transmitting a telephone connection request and response messages via efficiency messages can provide the ability to achieve the goal that the group communication system 100 satisfies the requirements of an “instant response”.

To complete the process of establishing a group telephone connection, the UMDD can send notifications of a phone call to subscribers included in the list of participants, including the call initiator. These telephone call notifications can be sent over dedicated traffic channels. In most cases, packet data sessions of group members are passive, that is, no dedicated traffic channels are established. This means that UMD will probably need to retransmit a message with a telephone call notification according to a schedule of persistent reliable transmission until all traffic channels are restored and the participants acknowledge receipt of the message, or until it expires time set by the validity timer. Persistent transmission of notification of a telephone call ensures the maintenance of a minimum volume of media buffers at the client and in the UMD. The client can transfer buffered media immediately after restoring the traffic channel and receiving a notification of a phone call containing information about the possibilities of establishing communication with the UMD. The UMDD can copy and transmit buffered media immediately after reaching or exceeding the threshold value of the number of destination subscribers. This means the following: the faster the recipient subscribers receive the notification of the telephone call and answer it, the faster this threshold value can be reached and, therefore, the faster the UMD can stop buffering and begin transmitting media data.

The transmission of a telephone call notification to a call initiator can also be accomplished by efficiency. This provides two benefits. Firstly, since the notification of the telephone call contains information about the possibilities of establishing communication with the UMD, the group call client can start transmitting buffered media to the UMD immediately after restoring the traffic channel of the mobile station, which can reduce the requirements for the volume of random access memory ( RAM) in a mobile station for storing buffered media. Secondly, in the event that the call initiator decides to terminate the telephone call or disconnect the telephone connection to which he is entitled, what may happen before the restoration of the traffic channel at the time of receipt of the telephone call notification transmitted through the efficiency, the client can notify this UUMD, sending this information. The transmission of the notification of a telephone call to the call initiator by means of efficiency acts in such a way that leads to an increase in the load on the public communication channels and to the fact that the UMD is required to perform special processing of the message with the notification of the telephone call received from the call initiator.

INITIATING A REMOTE TELEPHONE CALL

Intraregional telephone calls can be serviced by a local host if all participants are within the same region. A regional dispatcher may charge an intra-regional telephone call to a remote region due to overload or inaccessibility of local resources. In such cases, additional delay time may be observed and errors may occur during the transmission of media data and service signals, which is due to the presence of longer communication channels between the PDP of the subscriber and the remote UMD. Figure 5 shows an example of a telephone connection procedure for a remote intra-regional telephone call.

The procedure for initiating an intra-regional telephone call at a remote host is the same as the telephone connection setup scenario described with reference to FIG. 4, except for the UMD allocation operation for a telephone call performed by the regional dispatcher. After the regional dispatcher extracted information about the location of the group members, he can determine the UMD that can be allocated for a phone call. The regional dispatcher can make this decision on the basis of information about the location of the subscribers, the download, and the availability of UMD devices. When an intra-regional telephone call, subscribers can be in the same region, so the regional dispatcher can check the load and availability of the UUMD complex in the local region. If the regional dispatcher receives an instruction indicating that the local UUMD complex is overloaded or operational failures are temporarily observed in it, he can allocate a remote UMD for a telephone call. In one embodiment of the invention, the UMDD devices can be identical copies with the same functionality, except for the configuration of the telephone call, so the remote UMDD can process the phone call in the same way as the local UMDD.

INTERREGIONAL TELEPHONE CALLS

The group call system 100 can be configured in such a way that it provides the subscriber with the opportunity to establish communication with any other subscriber regardless of their physical location or proximity to each other. Group communication system 100 may be arranged in such a way as to limit the number of inter-regional telephone calls, since inter-regional telephone calls require communication between the regional dispatcher and the dispatcher of the own network during the establishment of a telephone connection. For a telephone call, a UMD located in a remote region with respect to one or more telephone call participants can be allocated. The following sections describe examples of sequences of operations performed during a telephone call, timing estimates, and messaging schemes for inter-regional telephone calls.

INITIATING A LOCAL TELEPHONE CALL

6 shows an example of a messaging sequence for initiating a group call with a local host. The procedure for establishing a telephone connection for a local inter-regional telephone call is similar to the procedure for establishing a telephone connection for a local intra-regional telephone call described with reference to FIG. 4, except for the process in which the regional dispatcher retrieves the location information of the destination subscribers. In one embodiment of the invention, the regional dispatcher attempts to locate the destination subscribers in his cache. If some subscribers are not found in the cache, the regional dispatcher may request assistance from the dispatcher of his own network to determine the location of the subscribers. Own network manager may contain information about the location of the subscriber for those subscribers who have completed registration via the Internet Protocol (IP) using a regional location server. As described above, the regional location server can notify the corresponding regional dispatcher of each fact of registration of subscribers. Each regional dispatcher can notify the dispatcher of his own network about the facts of registration of subscribers. This allows the dispatcher of his own network to assist regional dispatchers in detecting subscribers scattered across different geographical regions.

INITIATING A REMOTE TELEPHONE CALL

7 shows an example of a procedure for establishing a remote interregional telephone call. The scenario for initiating an interregional telephone call in a remote host is similar to the scenario for establishing a telephone connection described with reference to Fig. 4, with the exception of the UMD allocation operation for a telephone call performed by the regional dispatcher. After the regional dispatcher (RD) 114 retrieved the location information of the group members, he can determine the UMD that can be allocated for a telephone call. RD 114 can make this decision based on information about the location of the subscribers, the download, and the availability of UMD devices. Using information about the location of group members, RD makes an attempt to find the optimal path for passing Internet Protocol (IP) packets containing media and service signals through the network of the service provider for most participants. If the majority of subscribers are located in a particular region, then telephone call service can be assigned to this region, and if subscribers are evenly distributed across regions, telephone call service can be assigned to one of those regions in which the destination subscribers are located.

ENDING A GROUP CHALLENGE

A group call can be terminated for two reasons: either all participants issued a request to exit the phone call, or all participants stopped talking within a predetermined period of time called the “pause time”. Each participant can choose the option to end participation in a phone call before the scheduled end of the phone call. If all participants terminate their participation in a telephone call, then the UMDD may end the telephone call and release all resources allocated to it. If participation in a telephone call is terminated by all but one participant, then the UMDD may notify the participant referred to as the “single subscriber”. A single subscriber has the following options: either immediately stop participating in a phone call, or wait for the time period set by the pause timer to expire, as a result of which the disconnection of the telephone connection through the UMD can be initiated.

The UMDD may end the telephone call after a period of time specified by the pause timer. The UMDD can track every burst of speech activity and set a timer after the end of a burst of speech activity. This timer is called the pause time timer, and it can track the length of the period of silence during a telephone call, that is, the absence of conversation or activity in the information stream in the media. If the period of silence in a telephone call is maintained for the duration of the pause time that can be set by the service provider, UMD may assume that the participants are no longer interested in continuing the telephone conversation, and therefore terminates the telephone call.

ENDING A PHONE CALL, INITIATED BY A SUBSCRIBER

On Fig shows an example scenario in which the subscriber chose to end participation in a group call. This scenario depicts a messaging sequence by which subscriber participation is completed. When, at operation 802, the subscriber selects the option to end participation in a group call, the client, at operation 804, can send a request to the UMD to remove the user from the telephone call. In operation 806, the UMDD can remove the subscriber from the telephone call and, in operation 808, notify the client that the subscriber has been deleted (operation 810).

TERMINATION OF THE TELEPHONE CALL INITIATED BY THE SERVER

FIG. 9 shows an example of a messaging sequence that occurs when the time specified by the pause timer expires and the UMD ends the group call. After the time period specified by the pause time timer 902, the UMDD, by performing the operation 904, may send a notification of the completion of the telephone call to the participants. Each client receiving a notification of completion of a telephone call can perform operation 906, in which he sends a response confirmation message. After receiving acknowledgment messages, the UMDD may perform an operation 908, in which it notifies the RD that the telephone call is completed and the resources allocated for this telephone call can be freed.

WARNING TRANSMISSION

To notify the destination subscribers that the other party, the initiator of the warning transmission, has expressed the desire that they take part in a group call, an alert transmission algorithm can be used. The alert transmission algorithm may contain a text message that allows the call initiator to indicate the subject of the telephone call, the desired time of the telephone call, or any other text message as desired by the subscriber. 10 shows an example of a messaging sequence that occurs when a subscriber sends a warning.

In operation 1002, the call initiator may select one or more destination subscribers, one or more predetermined groups, or the aforementioned subscribers and groups in combination and may indicate that a warning may be sent. At operation 1004, the client can send the RD a request to send a warning to the destination subscribers indicated in the request. When at step 1006, the taxiway receives a request, it can convert the predefined groups specified in the request to detailed lists of participants, which are the destination subscribers, and the taxiway can extract information about the location of the destination subscribers. After the taxiway has determined the location of at least one of the recipient subscribers, the taxiway can send a return response 1008 to the client. In step 1010, the taxiway can distribute a warning message to UMD, which broadcasts a warning message 1012 with a warning to the target subscribers .

As indicated in FIG. 10, alert transmission requests can be transmitted by means of a short data packet (Efficiency). The transmission of alerts through efficiency messages allows the parties involved to continue to perform passive packet data sessions. The warning notification contains the information necessary for the recipient subscribers to establish group telephone connections with the call initiator and the other recipient subscribers, for example, by selecting the warning notification and pressing the NiG button. When this happens, the establishment of a group telephone connection is performed similarly to the scenario for establishing a telephone connection described above with reference to FIG.

LATER ATTACHMENT

A request to establish a group telephone connection is considered late if it is determined that the list of participants, which can be specified in the request for establishing a telephone connection, is identical to the list of participants that corresponds to a telephone call already made in the system. This situation can occur in one of two cases. In the first case, the subscriber can create a list of participants identical to the list to which the existing telephone call already corresponds, for example, by selecting the same subscriber (s) and / or group (s) and pressing the NiG button. In the second case, the subscriber can select the telephone call still being made in the system from the previous telephone call log and press the NiG button. In any case, the taxiway may find that the telephone call, on the initiation of which the subscriber issued a request, is already in progress, and regards the subscriber as having joined late.

11 shows an example of a late connection option in which a subscriber can select a phone call from a previous phone call log. At operation 1102, the subscriber can select a telephone call from the previous telephone call log and press the NiG button. At operation 1104, the client can send the RD a request to initiate a group call. At operation 1106, the RD can determine that a telephone call is already in progress and send a response 1108 to the client stating that the operation of adding a subscriber to an ongoing telephone call is in progress. If a telephone call is already being made, then the subscriber cannot be granted the right to a telephone call, since the participant in the current telephone call can already reserve the right to a telephone call at the point in time at which the subscriber, who is late, is ready to receive media data, then there is a packet data session taken out of an inactive state. At operation 1110, the taxiway may issue a request to UDMD, which is the host site for a telephone call, to add a subscriber who has joined late to the group. UMDD adds the subscriber and performs operation 1112, in which it sends a notification to the subscriber containing information about the possibilities of establishing communication with the UMD. After restoration of the traffic channel of the subscriber who has joined late, transmission of the media flow of the telephone call to the subscriber can be carried out. At this point in time, the subscriber who has joined late may try to issue a request for a preferential right to conduct a conversation.

The late joining scenario is similar to the new group call initiation scenario described above with reference to FIG. 4. The difference is that a late subscriber is denied the right to a telephone call in response to an initial request to establish a group telephone connection.

ARBITRATION OF A TALKING SUBSCRIBER

In one embodiment of the invention, each subscriber of the group call is assigned the priority right of the speaking subscriber, which determines what level of rights the subscriber has when issuing a request for a priority right to take advantage of the "right to telephone conversation" and start talking. Once a group telephone connection is established, the UMD may be responsible for controlling the right to a telephone conversation and determine whether the participant who issued the request for the right to a telephone conversation can be granted permission to speak. The UMDD can arbitrate a talking subscriber when two or more participants in a telephone call are competitors for control of the right to a telephone call for a particular group.

12 shows an example of events that may occur during the arbitration process. The arbitration scheme used in this scenario allows you to provide pre-emptive right to subscriber B when issuing subscriber A a request for a telephone right. Subscriber B controls the right to a telephone conversation, that is, subscriber B speaks at the moment when subscriber A, performing operation 1202, issues a request for permission to speak by pressing the NiG button. The client can perform operation 1204, in which he sends a message to the UMD requesting permission to speak. At operation 1206, the UMDD can arbitrate the talking subscriber and determine that the preferential right of subscriber B can be suspended, and the right to a telephone call is granted to subscriber A. To ensure interruption of the information flow in the media, that is, subscriber B can end the conversation before transmitting the subscriber’s media A, perform operation 1208, in which the UMD first sends a message to subscriber B to the client, indicating that a preferential right to a telephone conversation was granted to a friend th user, then in step 1210 sends a response, granting the right to a phone call to the subscriber A.

ADD SUBSCRIBERS TO AN ACTIVE GROUP CHALLENGE

The group communication system 100 allows a group call participant to add new subscribers to a group call during its execution. This is done as follows: the participant in the telephone call selects one or more recipient subscribers, one or more predetermined groups, or the aforementioned subscribers and groups in the aggregate and indicates that the participant would like to add the recipient to the group call in which the participant is located at a given time. On Fig shows the events that occur when adding new destinations to the ongoing group call. At operation 1302, the participant in the telephone call can select one or more destination subscribers, one or more groups, or the aforementioned subscribers and groups to be added to the telephone call. At operation 1304, the client can send an RD message with a request to add the specified recipient recipients to the ongoing group call, which can be specified in the request. Upon receipt of the RD request, it can convert the predefined groups specified in the request into detailed lists of participants, which are the destination subscribers. Then, in step 1306, the taxiway can retrieve the location information of the destination subscribers. After the RD has determined the location of at least one of the destination subscribers, the RD, in step 1308, may send a return response to the client indicating that the addressees are being added to the telephone call. In step 1310, the taxiway may send a request to the UMD to add the indicated subscribers to the telephone call. In step 1312, the UMDD can send notifications of a phone call to new recipients who can initiate the process of removing their packet data sessions from an inactive state. Notifications can be sent according to the schedule of reliable transmission to ensure guaranteed receipt of messages by recipients. After the restoration of the channels of destination traffic, operation 1314 may be performed in which the addressees send acknowledgment messages to the UMD. At operation 1316, additional recipients may be involved in the process of transmitting media data and service signals performed during a telephone call.

REMOVING PARTICIPANTS FROM AN ACTIVE GROUP CHALLENGE

Group communication system 100 provides a group call participant with the ability to remove participants from an active group. In one embodiment, this can be accomplished by selecting a participant in a telephone call to one or more recipient participants and indicating that they should be removed from the group call. FIG. 14 shows an example of events that may occur when participants are removed from an ongoing group call. At operation 1402, a group call participant may select one or more destination participants to be removed from the telephone call. At operation 1404, the client can send the RD a message requesting the removal of destinations that may be indicated in the message from the group call. Upon receipt of the RD request, he can perform the operation 1406 of retrieving information about the location of the addressee and can perform the operation 1408 of transmitting to the client a return response indicating that the addressees are being deleted. At operation 1410, the taxiway may send a request to the UMD to remove recipients from the telephone call. At operation 1412, the UMDD can send to the recipients, which may be indicated in the deletion request, messages that they are being deleted from the telephone call. At operation 1414, the recipients can send acknowledgment messages to the UMD.

REFUSAL TO REGISTRATION

In the case where the subscriber no longer wishes to communicate with the application server or any other IP application using the subscriber’s IP address to establish communication with the subscriber, the registration cancellation function can be performed. The registration cancellation function deletes the subscriber’s IP address and other information about the possibilities of communicating with him from the RSOP and releases any resources allocated on behalf of the subscriber. On Fig shows how to remove the registration of the subscriber from the RSOP as a result of turning off the power of the mobile station according to one embodiment of the invention. At operation 1502, the client may be instructed to turn off the power of the mobile station where the client is located. As part of the shutdown process, operation 1504 may be performed in which the client sends a message to the POP indicating that the location information of the subscriber should be deleted. The RSOP may perform the authentication operation 1506 of the request to ensure that it came from an appropriate source. After a successful authentication at step 1508, the RSOP can notify the client of success, and at step 1510, it can notify the RD of the removal of the subscriber. RD can delete subscriber data records from its cache and can free up resources that may have been allocated to the subscriber. In the event of an unsuccessful outcome of the registration cancellation procedure, the subscriber’s location information can ultimately be deleted from the RSOP after a period of time corresponding to the “expiration” field has expired.

In one embodiment, the group communication system 100 provides support for both a discussion group model and a custom model. In the discussion group model, the groups are predefined and information about them can be stored in the dispatch server. Pre-defined groups can be publicly available, while implying that the group has an open list of participants, that is, any dispatch communication subscriber is a potential participant. In the discussion group model, a telephone call begins at the moment when the first person decides to join the discussion group and continues to make a telephone call using server resources allocated for a telephone call, regardless of the activity of the conversation, for a predetermined amount of time, which can be set by the service provider. In particular, subscribers issue requests to join and exit these types of telephone calls. As described below, during periods of inactivity of a conversation, each telephone call is put into an inactive state of the group until the subscriber issues a request for permission to conduct the conversation.

In a specialized model, groups can be defined in real time and have a corresponding closed list of participants. The closed list of participants may indicate which subscribers are allowed to participate in the group, which may not be allowed to subscribers not specified in the closed list of participants, and it may exist only during the duration of the telephone call. The definitions of specialized groups need not be memorized anywhere; they can be used to establish a telephone connection and destroyed after the end of the telephone call.

A specialized group (created for each individual case) can be formed at the moment when the subscriber - the initiator of the call - selects one or more subscribers, and generates a request sent to the server to initiate a telephone call. Notifications to recipients can be sent that they are included in the group and can automatically join the corresponding phone call, that is, the subscriber may not be required to perform any action. When a specialized telephone call becomes inactive, application servers can “disconnect” the telephone call and release the resources allocated to it, including the group definition used to initiate the telephone call.

When the group communication system 100 is in the discussion group model mode, a group of users of communication devices, known individually as network members, communicates with each other using a communication device provided to each network member. The term "network" means a group of those communication device users who are allowed to communicate with each other.

In one embodiment of the invention, the central database may contain information identifying participants in each particular network. More than one network can function in the same communication system. For example, the first network can be defined in such a way that it contains ten participants, and the second network can be determined in such a way that it contains twenty participants. Ten members of the first network can communicate with each other, but cannot communicate with participants in the second network. In another embodiment of the invention, participants in various networks are able to monitor communications between participants in more than one network, but may be able to transmit information only to participants within their own network.

The network can function in the existing communication system, which does not require significant changes in the existing infrastructure. Therefore, the controller and subscribers in the network can operate in any system capable of transmitting and receiving information in the form of packets using the Internet Protocol (IP), for example, in a code division multiple access (CDMA) multiple access system, in a time-based multiple access system channel separation (TDMA), in the global mobile communications system (GSM), in satellite communication systems such as, for example, the Globalstar system (Globalstar ™) or the Indium system (“Indium ™”), or in a plurality other systems.

Network participants can communicate with each other using the communication device provided to them, which are shown in the drawing as communication devices 120 and 122. The USB 120 and 122 can be wireless or wired communication devices, for example, wireless landline telephones, wireline telephones that can operate in a push-and-talk mode, satellite telephones equipped with a push-and-talk function, wireless video cameras, still cameras, sound devices, such as, for example, music recording or playback devices, laptop or desktop computers, paging devices (pagers), or any combination these devices. For example, CSS 120 may comprise a wireless landline telephone equipped with a video camera and a visual display device. In addition, each CSS may be capable of transmitting and receiving information either in a secure mode or in an unprotected ("transparent") mode. Throughout the description below, a link to a separate CSS means a link to a wireless telephone with a push-and-talk function. However, it should be understood that this implies the following: the reference to the CSS is essentially non-limiting and may include other communication devices capable of transmitting and receiving information in the form of packets in accordance with the Internet Protocol (IP).

In the group communication system 100, the presence of a priority right to transfer usually allows an individual user to transmit information to other network participants on time. Granting or refusal to grant a priority right to transfer to a network member issuing a request for its provision depends on whether, at the time of receipt of the request, the priority right to transfer to another network member was granted or not. The process of satisfying or rejecting transfer requests is known as arbitration. In determining whether the network participant issuing the request should be given a priority right to transfer, arbitration schemes can evaluate factors such as, for example, the priority levels assigned to each CSS, the number of unsuccessful attempts to obtain a priority right to transfer, the length of time, during which the network member retained the priority right to transfer, or other factors.

In order to become a member of the system 100, each of the CSS 120 and 122 may be able to issue a request for permission for priority right to transfer from the controller or from UUMD 116. UUMD 116 can control the functioning of groups in real time and administer groups. UUMD is a computer device of any type, containing at least one processor and a storage device. UMD 116 may remotely control via a communication system service provider, participants or both of them, and it is assumed that service provider authorizes access. UUMD 116 may receive group definitions through an external administration interface. Members of the group can issue a request for administrative actions through their service provider or perform administrative management of network functions through specified systems, for example, through a security management tool, CMS (SM), which is managed by a participant and which is coordinated with the UMD administration interface. UMD 116 may confirm the authenticity of the party attempting to establish or modify the network.

CPS can manage key distribution, perform subscriber authentication and related tasks to ensure network security. One group communication system can interact with one or with a large number of CPS. CPS may not be involved in real-time network management, including in the process of network activation or NiG arbitration. The CPS may be able to perform administrative functions compatible with the UUMD interface to automate administrative functions. The CPS can also be able to act as an endpoint for data to participate in the network, broadcast network keys or simply monitor the flow of information exchange in the network.

In one embodiment of the invention, the means for issuing a request for permission from the UMDD on the priority right to transmit comprises a key or a push-and-talk switch, NiG. In the event that the subscriber in the system 100 wants to transfer information to other participants, the subscriber can press the "press and talk" switch located in his or her CSS, sending a request for control over the right to a telephone call to receive priority right to transfer from UMD 116. If at a given time the priority right to transfer is not granted to any other network participant, then the priority right to transfer may be granted to the subscriber who issued the request, and the subscriber can be notified about this by ohm audible, visual, or tactile alert through CSS. After the subscriber that issued the request is granted priority right to transfer, information from this subscriber can be transferred to another participant.

In one embodiment of the invention, each wireless network participant establishes a forward communication channel and a reverse communication channel with one or more base stations 126 or, alternatively, with a satellite communications gateway, as the case may be. Voice information and / or data can be converted using CSS into data packets, which, for example, are suitable for a particular distributed network 128, through which communication with other subscribers can be made. In one embodiment, the distributed network 128 is the Internet.

In one embodiment of the invention, in each communication system, that is, in the terrestrial communication system and in the satellite communication system, a dedicated direct communication channel is established for broadcasting information from each network member to other network participants. Each network member can receive transmitted information from participants in another network through a dedicated channel. In another embodiment of the invention, a dedicated reverse communication channel is established in each communication system for transmitting information to UMD 116. In one embodiment, a combination of the above schemes may be used. For example, the scheme may include the operation of establishing a dedicated broadcast direct channel, but this requires that the wireless communication unit transmit information to the UMDD 116 via a dedicated reverse communication channel assigned to each communication unit.

In the case when the first network member wants to transfer information to other network participants, the first network member can issue a request for the priority right to transfer by pressing the "press and speak" key in his or her CSS, which generates a request having the format, suitable for transmission over a distributed network 128. In the case of the presence of the US 120 and 122, the request may be transmitted by radio to one or more base stations 126. Between the base station (BS) 126 and the distributed network 128 there is a mobile switching center, MCC (MSC) 130, which may contain the well-known interworking function, FMW (IWF), packet data service node, DPSN (PDSN), or packet control function, PCF (PCF), serving for processing packets data. The request can be transmitted through the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to a modem bank, which can receive the request and submit it to the distributed network 128. The terminal device can monitor traffic flow (information exchange) in the system 100 by connecting it to the distributed network 128.

If at the current time, when UMD 116 receives a request for a priority right to transfer, no other participant retains a priority right to transfer, then UMD 116 can transmit a message to a member of the network issuing the request, notifying him that he has been granted priority right to transfer. Then, audio, visual, or other information can be transmitted from the first network member to other network members by transmitting information to the UMD 116 using one of the transmission paths just described. In one embodiment of the invention, the UMD 116 then transmits information to other network participants by duplicating information and transferring each duplicate to other network participants. When using one broadcast channel, it is necessary to carry out only a single duplication of information for each used broadcast channel.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the UMD 116 is integrated in the MSC 130, so the data packets from the reference base stations are sent directly to the UMD 116 without sending them to the distributed network 128. In this embodiment, the UMD 116 is still connected to the distributed network 128, therefore other communication systems and devices may participate in group communication. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the UMDD 116 may be integrated into the DFMA or into the PMF modules of the MCC 130.

In one embodiment of the invention, the UMD 116 maintains one or more databases used to manage information related to individual network participants, as well as to each given network. For example, for each participant in the network, the database may contain information such as, for example, the subscriber’s name, account number, phone number or dialed number corresponding to the participant’s CS, mobile station identification number assigned to the CS, the current status of the participant in the network, for example, is whether the participant is an active participant in the network, a priority code that is used to determine how the priority right to transfer is provided, a data phone number, an appropriate CSS, an IP address, a corresponding CSS, and a pointer which networks the participant is allowed to communicate with. Other related information of other types related to each network member can also be stored in the database.

In one of the embodiments of the invention, the CSS can create connections with individual communication terminal devices to form one group or network for communication. UUMD may contain many functionalities implemented by hardware and software, the configuration of which can be rearranged in various ways to adapt to various fields of application. UUMD can provide real-time management of network operations, administrative network operations and network authentication operations, arbitration of push-and-talk (NiG) requests, service and distribution of network participants lists and registration lists, establishment of a telephone call and disconnection necessary communication, for example, CDMA, system and network resources, as well as centralized monitoring of network status.

Networks can be located within an autonomous deployable cellular communication system or a large structure with many network nodes. In the case of a large structure, many UUMDs can be placed on a geographical basis, forming a single integrated system, with each of them functioning as a plug-in module that is built into the existing cellular communications infrastructure. Essentially, the new functionalities provided by the networks are available to cellular subscribers, without any modification to the existing cellular infrastructure being required.

UUMD can serve a list of specified networks. In one embodiment of the invention, each network definition contains a network identifier, a list of participants, including phone numbers or other identifying information, subscriber priority information and other general administrative information. Networks can be statically defined as either insecure or secure, and transitions between insecure and secure networks cannot be allowed. A secure network typically uses media encryption to provide authentication and protection against eavesdropping. For secure networks, end-to-end encryption of media is carried out, which means that encryption and decryption can be performed in the communication device. UUMD may function without information about security algorithms, keys, or strategies.

FIG. 16 is an example of a group 1600 for explaining how communication devices 1602, 1604, and 1606 interact with a UMDD 1608. Many UMDs can be placed in a manner that is desirable for large-scale groups. In Fig.16 CSS 1602 has permission to transmit media to other members of the group. In this case, it is known that the CSS 1602 is a talking subscriber and transmits media over the communication channel. When CSS 1602 is defined as a talking subscriber, the other participants, which are CSS 1604 and CSS 1606, may not have permission to transfer media to the group. Therefore, CSS 1604 and CSS 1606 are defined as listening subscribers.

As described above, the US 1602, 1604, and 1606 communicate with the UUMD 1608 using at least one channel. In one embodiment of the invention, the channel is divided into dedicated channels, which include the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) channel 1610, the media overhead channel 1612, and the media traffic channel 1614. Channel 1610 Protocol session initiation of communication (SIP) and channel 1612 transmission of service signals of the media can be used at any time, as far as their bandwidth allows, by any of the US 1602, 1604 and 1606, regardless of whether it is defined as speaking subscriber or as a listening subscriber. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an application-level protocol developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that describes the controls for establishing, modifying, and terminating multimedia communications sessions using the Internet Protocol (IP). Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) provides a general solution to telephone call signaling problems for Internet telephone applications, providing support for subscriber registration and location tools, subscriber capabilities and media features, and subscriber availability tools Establishing a telephone connection and handling telephone calls.

In one embodiment of the invention, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) channel 1610 is used to start and end the participation of the UE in group 1600. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) channel 1610 can also use a Session Description Protocol (SDP) signal. In the case when the participation of the DC in the group is the initial installation, for example, using channel 1610 of the session initiation protocol (SIP), then there is real-time control of the telephone connection and transmission of service signals between the DC and UMD, for example, using channel 1612 transmission of service signals of the media of the network broadcast service (SSO). In one embodiment of the invention, the media signaling channel 1612 is used to process requests issued by pressing and releasing the click and talk button, to arbitrate conflicting requests or to control the right to a telephone conversation, to announce the beginning and end of the transmission of information, to manage the inactive state of the network, to monitor the ability to communicate with the endpoint, to issue requests and exchange data on the status of the network, and to notify you of any All error messages. The media channel overhead protocol channel 1612 protocol minimizes the length of the most frequently transmitted messages and simplifies the task of interpreting responses and issuing responses to requests, while maintaining adaptability for future enhancements. Protocol channel 1612 transmission of service signals of the media also allows retransmission of requests without adversely affecting the state of the protocol.

In one embodiment of the invention, the service signal exchange channel 161 of the media service signaling channel comprises telephone connection and control signaling signals, which may consist of requests for invitations to the communication session and confirmation messages, and media signaling signals, which may contain requests for control over the right to telephone calls transmitted in real time, and related asynchronous messages. The media traffic stream on channel 1614 of the media traffic may comprise broadcast transmissions of voice and / or data in real time from one subscriber to a plurality of subscribers. Both messaging categories have unique functional properties. In addition, each CSS can issue domain name service (DNS) client requests to facilitate the translation of fully qualified DNS host names into network addresses on the Internet.

In one of the embodiments of the invention, the transmission of service signals for establishing a telephone connection and controlling a telephone connection is performed according to the semantics of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Although the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) can be transported using either the well-known User Datagram Transmission Protocol (UDP) or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), in one embodiment, each USS performs the function of transmitting service signals, based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). In addition, each CM configuration manager may expect to receive Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) service requests over the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The transmission of service signals in real time can occur through the dynamic interface of the protocol for transmitting user datagrams / Internet protocol (UDP / IP) in the CM and in each CSS. Other service signals can be transmitted via the stationary interface of the Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP) between the CM and the US using, for example, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

NIG FUNCTION DELAY TIME

In one embodiment, when the packet data service is active, actively allocate resources available in the infrastructure, for example, a base station transceiver subsystem, BTS, a base station controller, BSC, means the function of the interworking, FMW (IWF), and the radio channel, mobile station, MS (MS). In the service of dispatching voice data over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) based on the Internet Protocol (IP), the connection for packet data for each subscriber remains active during the duration of an active conversation between group members. However, after a period of inactivity, that is, “pause time”, in case of group communication, subscriber traffic channels can go into an inactive state.

The transition to an inactive state saves the system bandwidth, reduces the cost of maintenance and current consumption of the battery, and also leads to the fact that the subscriber can receive ordinary incoming phone calls in voice mode. For example, when a subscriber participates in an active telephone call with a packet data transmission, it is generally believed that his telephone is “busy” for incoming telephone calls in voice mode. If the telephone call with packet data, in which the subscriber participates, is in an inactive state, then the subscriber may be able to receive incoming telephone calls in voice mode. Therefore, after periods of inactivity during packet data transmission, it is desirable to transfer a telephone call with packet data to an inactive state.

During the time that packet data telephone calls are active, even if no data packet is being exchanged, mobile telephones can still transmit power in the radio frequency (RF) range, albeit at a low level keep synchronization with the base station and carry out power control. These transmitted signals can lead to significant power consumption in the telephone. However, in the inactive state, the telephone cannot fail to transmit RF signals. In order to save energy of the telephone and extend the battery life, the pause time can be set in such a way that the telephone switches to the inactive mode after long periods of no data transmission.

During the time when the packet data service is active for all subscribers, NiT (PTT) requests, which may be IP datagrams transmitted between the MS and the scheduling server, have a very low latency. However, if the subscriber communication channels were previously transferred to an inactive state, then the delay time of the NiG function can be much longer. During the inactive state of the packet data, status information corresponding to the packet data session, including the IP address of the mobile device, may be stored. However, status information corresponding to lower layers than the point-to-point connection protocol (PPP), for example physical layers of information exchange, can be deleted and / or released.

In some infrastructures, in order to activate an inactive connection for data transmission, it is necessary to redistribute the traffic channel, it is necessary to redistribute the resources, and it is necessary to re-initialize the level of the radio link protocol (RLP). As a result, this leads to the fact that when a subscriber presses his NiG button to request a right to a phone call after the talking group has not talked for some time, the delay time of the NiG function for the first burst of speech activity is usually much longer than for subsequent bursts of speech activity. Although this is relatively rare, it can affect the efficiency of the service and should be minimized.

In one embodiment of the invention, to reduce the delay time of the NiG function, the transmission of service signals during a group call, for example, requests for control over the right to a telephone conversation, answers to requests for control over the right to a telephone conversation, and messages about exiting an inactive state be carried out on some available public channels, without waiting for the restoration of dedicated traffic channels. Such public channels may always be available regardless of the state of the mobile stations and may not require a request for their use and their redistribution whenever the subscriber wants to initiate a group call. Therefore, the exchange of group call service signals can be carried out even when the mobile stations are inactive, which can provide the means of parallel recovery of dedicated traffic channels for the mobile stations of the talking subscriber and the listening subscriber.

In one embodiment of the invention, the calling mobile station may transmit a request for control of the right to a telephone call to the wireless infrastructure via some available reverse public communication channels, for example, a reverse access channel and a reverse access channel with enhanced access. The calling mobile station may also receive a response to a request for control of the right to a telephone call over some available direct public communication channels, for example, a direct paging channel and a direct public control channel. In one embodiment of the invention, inactive mobile stations of a listening subscriber can receive messages about exiting an inactive state through some available direct public communication channels, for example, through a direct paging channel and through a direct public control channel.

Messages providing the transmission of telephone call signaling in the form of a short data packet

In one embodiment of the invention, a significant reduction in the actual total time out of the inactive state and the delay time of the NiG function perceived by the talking subscriber can be achieved by using messages in the form of a short data packet (COP) provided by the international standards of the Communications Industry Association / Association US electronics industry for CDMA-2000 (cdma2000) systems with TIA / EIA / IS-2000 spectrum diversity, which are referred to below as, for example, "CDMA-20 standard 00 " In one embodiment of the invention, the transmission of efficiency messages can be carried out on both dedicated physical channels, for example, on the main direct channel, the UIC (FCH) or on the dedicated direct control channel for general use, VCPUOP (F-DCCH), or on the physical channels of general use for example, through the reverse access channel, OKD (R-ACH), through the reverse channel with extended access, OKRD (R-EACH), through the direct control channel for general use, PKUOP (F-CCCH), or through the channel search call, CPV ( PCH). Efficiency messages can be transported using the packet radio protocol, RBP, which maps messages to the appropriate and available physical layer channel. Since efficiency messages can contain arbitrary information transmitted over the Internet Protocol (IP), and their transmission can be carried out via physical public channels, efficiency messages provide a means of exchanging service signals during a group call in the case when the mobile station has a calling client There are no dedicated traffic channels.

Messages providing the transmission of service signals of a telephone call, Outgoing from a mobile station

In one embodiment of the invention, messages providing for the transmission of media overhead signals may comprise IP datagrams transmitted over a reverse communications channel or over a communications channel originating from a mobile station. The client mobile station can quickly transmit a signal to the UMDD whenever a subscriber issues a request for a right to a telephone conversation, and a dedicated return traffic channel cannot be immediately placed at his disposal. Assuming that the client mobile station has released all the allocated traffic channels, the client mobile station can immediately send a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation over the reverse public communication channel available in the wireless infrastructure through which the request can be transmitted to the UMD. For example, to transmit such messages in the absence of a dedicated reverse channel, either a reverse access channel or a reverse access channel can be used. In one embodiment of the invention, the client mobile station may transmit a message requesting the right to a telephone conversation in UMD in the form of an efficiency message.

With reference to FIG. 4, in one embodiment of the invention, the client MS may send a request 404 for granting the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode on a public return channel, for example, an access channel or an access channel, before attempting to restore its dedicated traffic channel. In one embodiment of the invention, the client MS may send a request 404 for granting the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode in an efficiency message regardless of the channel used.

Then, the client MS can begin restoring its dedicated traffic channel, for example, by performing “service operation number 33 reset” (“service option 33 re-origination”). The client MS may also begin synchronization of the radio link protocol (RLP). In one embodiment of the invention, the client MS can restore its dedicated traffic channel and synchronize the radio link protocol (RLP), which in the preferred embodiment is carried out in parallel with the transmission of the request 404 for granting the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode.

Therefore, the use of the available reverse public communication channels and / or the efficiency function for sending requests to the CM to obtain control over the right to a telephone call at a time when the mobile station does not have active dedicated traffic channels, reduces the total time required for output participating mobile stations from an inactive state. Despite the fact that the client of the talking subscriber may not receive confirmation of the right to have a telephone conversation at his request until the direct channel of traffic of the talking subscriber is restored, the ability to quickly transmit signals to the CM to start withdrawing the participating listening subscribers from an inactive state to reduce the total delay time.

Referring to FIG. 4, a wireless communications system infrastructure may send a request 404 for control of the right to a telephone call in NiG mode to a packet data service node (UART), and then to UMD. In one embodiment of the invention, after receiving a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation, the UMDD can arbitrate the request, batch transmit service messages of media information about the inactive state (activation messages) to a group of recipient participants (listening subscribers) and / or initiate the procedure for restoring channels 414 of the traffic of participants (listening subscribers). If the UMDD, in response to a request, grants the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode, then the UMDD may send a message 408 about the presentation of the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode to the client PS. In one embodiment of the invention, if the dedicated channel of the client’s traffic has not yet been restored, then RD can send a message 408 about the presentation of the right to make a telephone call in NiG mode to the client MS using an available direct public communication channel, for example, direct paging channel and direct public control channel. In one embodiment of the invention, the infrastructure can transmit a message 408 about the presentation of the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode to the client MS in the form of efficiency, regardless of the channel used.

In one embodiment of the invention, the UMDD, before responding to a request for control of the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode, can expect the expiration of the period of time specified by the inactivity response timer. If the response time to the lack of activity in the group is set to zero, then the CM can immediately respond to a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation. In one embodiment, if the client MS has completed the restoration of its traffic channel and the synchronization of the radio channel protocol (RLP), the client MS may stream to the UMD media 416, which may have been buffered (at operation 412) in client PS.

Messages providing the transmission of service signals of a telephone call originating from the NET

In one embodiment of the invention, after receiving a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation, the UMD can batch transmit service messages of media data about an inactive state to a group of recipient participants (listening subscribers) and initiate a procedure for restoring the traffic channels of participants (listening subscribers). If the response time to the lack of activity in the group is set to zero, then the UMD can immediately respond to a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation. In one embodiment of the invention, if the talking subscriber starts restoring his traffic channel immediately after transmitting the NiG request, in the preferred embodiment, the restoration of the traffic channels of the calling subscriber and listening subscribers can be carried out in parallel.

With reference to FIG. 4, after the UMD has received a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation in NiG mode, the UMD can send activation messages 414 directed to listening destination subscribers. The UMDD can determine if there is a packet data session for the destination mobile station and send the activation packet to the appropriate infrastructure element, for example, to the base station. The infrastructure can make a search call for each individual mobile destination station to begin the recovery of its dedicated traffic channel. Then, the destination mobile station can start recovering its dedicated traffic channel, for example, by performing “service operation number 33 re-origination”. The destination mobile station may also begin synchronization of the radio link protocol (RLP). In one embodiment of the invention, the destination mobile stations can recover their dedicated traffic channels and synchronize their radio link protocols (RLPs), which in an advantageous embodiment is carried out in parallel with the performance of the same client MS functions.

In one embodiment, after the destination mobile station has completed the recovery of its dedicated traffic channel and the synchronization of its radio link protocol (RLP), the destination mobile station may send an inactive response message 422 to the UMD indicating that the destination mobile station is ready to receive media. The UMDD can send a notification to the client MS of the talking subscriber before streaming to the destination mobile station media 420, the buffering of which could be carried out in the UMD at operation 418.

In one embodiment of the invention, the activation message 414 initiating the inactive exit can be transmitted to the listening destination UMD via some available direct public communication channels, for example, a direct paging channel and a direct public control channel, the time when the traffic channels of the listening destination subscribers have not yet been restored. In one embodiment of the invention, the UMDD can transmit an activation message 414 initiating a wake-up message to the listening subscriber in the form of efficiency, regardless of the channel used. If the transfer of the request for control over the right to a telephone call in NiG mode is carried out on the reverse communication channel of the public use of the talking subscriber in the form of an efficiency message, and the response timer for the lack of activity of the destination group is set to zero in the UMD, then the actual delay time of the NiG function in the client device of the talking subscriber can be reduced to such a time as is necessary for the transmission of the message with the request of the efficiency on the reverse communication channel and the subsequent response message of the efficiency on ryamomu communication channel.

NETWORK INTERFACES FOR Messages providing the transmission of telephone call signaling

To determine the characteristic flow of information exchange originating from the network, for example, the efficiency payload transmitted for an unoccupied mobile station that does not have dedicated traffic channels, some infrastructure policy or interface can be implemented to distinguish this characteristic flow of information exchange from other flows of information exchange.

In the first embodiment, IP datagrams can be filtered by their size, since efficiency messages can only transmit a limited subscriber payload. IP datagrams, the size of which is smaller than a predetermined limit size, can be transmitted as an efficiency message if they are intended for a mobile station that does not have dedicated traffic channels. The group communication system can use such filters because the attached message with the response to the request for the right to a telephone conversation is very small, equal, for example, to 34 bytes, including Internet protocol headers (IP headers).

In a second embodiment, the infrastructure provider may provide an Internet Protocol (IP) -based service for encapsulating an Internet Protocol (IP) encapsulation stream for delivery to a mobile station. The Internet Protocol Server (IP server), having information about the availability of such a service tool, can transmit small IP datagrams, for example, user datagram protocol (UDP) datagrams, which are properly encapsulated via IP headers, into this service tool for them delivery to a mobile station, which is believed to have no dedicated traffic channel. Group communication systems can use this service tool to indicate for the infrastructure that a message with a response to a request for the right to a telephone conversation should be delivered to the client MS that issued the request, for example, in the form of efficiency. Coordination of the efficiency data exchange flow with paging calls or outgoing service requests that are under consideration is also important to ensure fast and reliable transmission of the information exchange flow between subscribers.

In a third embodiment, the IP server can transmit special IP datagrams, for example user datagram protocol (UDP) datagrams, with IP headers intended for delivery to a mobile station, which is not believed to have a dedicated traffic channel. An IP server can mark IP datagrams, for example, by specifying a special value in the IP header, instructing the infrastructure to deliver the IP datagram to the client MS. Group communication systems can use this service to issue instructions to the infrastructure that a message with a response to a request for a right to a telephone conversation should be delivered to a client MS that issued a request, for example, in the form of efficiency. In a third embodiment, the address range of a user datagram transfer protocol (UDP) port or transmission control protocol (TCP) port may be reserved for delivering specific IP datagrams, for example, efficiency messages.

CALLING THE SERVICE INITIATED BY THE MOBILE STATION AND THE SEARCH CALL

In one embodiment of the invention, the client can send a request 404 for control of the right to a telephone call, which can be presented in the form of efficiency, after which a request for a service call is received immediately to a wireless infrastructure, such as CDMA, to restore it quickly traffic channels. However, if the set value of the inactivity response timer is small, then the taxiway can quickly respond to a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation and send a 408 response back to the client. If this response arrives at the infrastructure at the early stage of processing the service call request, then the infrastructure notes that the talking station subscriber does not have any active traffic channel, and may attempt to transmit the response to the talking subscriber’s PS using the paging method. However, this paging operation may interrupt the service call request processing already in progress. In one embodiment of the invention, the speaker of the speaking subscriber can answer the search call, which ensures the guaranteed delivery of a message with a response to the request for control of the right to a telephone conversation to the speaking subscriber, and again issue a request to call the service, but there is an unnecessary delay when restoring the talking channel traffic as a result of the interrupted initial attempt to call the service.

In the first embodiment, in order to avoid a state of rivalry between the service call process and the paging process, the RD configuration can be set so that it does not send an immediate response to the request 404 for control over the right to a telephone call. Therefore, the response timer for the presence of an inactive state can be adjusted so that the UMD transmits a response 408 to the talking station subscriber after completion of the service call process.

In the second embodiment, the coordination of the DFAR, receiving the answer 408, and the switching center for mobile communications (MCC), responding to a request for a service call issued by a talking subscriber, is ensured. That is, if the DFEP determines that the process of calling the packet data service for the talking station subscriber is already executed at the time of receipt of the 408 response to the infrastructure, then the MSC may delay the paging operation of the talking subscriber. DFID may cache the response and send it over the forward traffic channel of the talking station mobile station upon completion of the service call process. Alternatively, the MCC may send a response to the talking station subscriber in the form of an efficiency message in the event that the service call process is still in progress.

In a third embodiment, the speaking subscriber’s subscriber can prevent a rivalry from occurring by not issuing a service call request until the speaking subscriber’s subscriber receives a response to a request for control of a telephone right. In one embodiment of the invention, since the speaker of the speaking subscriber does not have any active dedicated traffic channel, the UMDD can transmit the response to the speaking station of the speaking subscriber via some available direct public communication channels, for example, through a direct paging channel and a direct channel public administration. In one embodiment of the invention, the UMDD can transmit the response to the speaker of the talking subscriber in the form of efficiency. The speaker of the talking subscriber can initiate the resumption of activity of his traffic channel based on the generated response to the request for control over the right to a telephone conversation in the same way that the resumption of activity of the traffic channel for the mobile stations of the listening subscriber is initiated by requests for withdrawal from an inactive state transmitted from UUMD. The occurrence of a rivalry state is prevented because the potential for simultaneous calling of a service initiated by a mobile station and a paging of a mobile station initiated by a network is prevented.

NETWORK-Cached MESSAGES ACTIVATING PACKAGE DATA TRANSFER

An IP datagram containing an activating message 414 initiating an inactive state output that enters a wireless communication infrastructure, such as CDMA, and is intended for a mobile station of a listening subscriber that does not have any dedicated traffic channels, may be lost or generally network, or wireless infrastructure in particular. In one embodiment of the invention, persistently retransmitting an activating message 414 initiating a conclusion from an inactive state to a mobile station of a listening subscriber according to a predetermined transmission sequence schedule until a response from listening subscribers is received, or until the time period set by the timer to exit the group from an inactive state will expire. For example, a retransmission of an activating message 414 initiating a wake-up can be performed every 500 milliseconds (ms). However, the retransmission of activation messages 414 initiating a conclusion from an inactive state with such a frequency can lead to a maximum delay of up to 500 ms, or an average delay of 250 ms, from the moment the listening channel recovers the listening channel until the next activating channel arrives in the infrastructure a message initiating a conclusion from an inactive state that is intended for this listening subscriber.

In one embodiment of the invention, the infrastructure or other object in the network can cache the activation message 414, initiating a conclusion from the inactive state transmitted by the UMD, and deliver it to the destination mobile station immediately after the destination mobile station restores its traffic channel. This eliminates the need for retransmission of a request for a wake-up request by the UMD, and reduces the overall time to wake up from an inactive state. Caching a message initiating a withdrawal from an inactive state 414, in contrast to retransmitting it every 500 ms, for example, can eliminate a delay of up to 500 ms from the total time of withdrawal from an inactive state.

MEDIA BUFFERING

In one embodiment of the invention, the subscriber may be given the opportunity to start talking after the subscriber has issued a request for control over the right to a telephone conversation, by buffering the media before restoring the allocated channels between the client and the listening subscribers. By buffering the speech of the talking subscriber, the system allows the talking subscriber to start talking before the traffic channels of the listening subscribers are fully restored. This gives the speaking subscriber the opportunity to start talking earlier, which leads to a reduction in the delay time of the NiG function he observes. Since the listening subscribers do not feel the delay time of the NiG function, this does not affect anyone, that is, the delay time of the NiG function is shifted from the talking subscriber to other parts of the system. The talking party can expect to receive a response from the listening party to his first burst of speech activity during the same time, but, as mentioned above, he already expects a response to his first burst of speech activity to follow later than a response to subsequent bursts of speech activity arising during their active conversation. Buffering of the first burst of speech activity of the talking subscriber can be carried out by the UMD or by the client PS.

BUFFERING FROM UMD

In one embodiment of the invention, the UMDD may buffer the first burst of speech activity of a speaking subscriber. After the subscriber has pressed his NiG button and the subscriber’s traffic channels have been restored, he may be allowed to communicate with the UMD. At this point in time, since the traffic channels of the listening subscriber are not yet operational, the UMDD, during operation 418, buffers the speech of the talking subscriber for transmission to listening listeners in the future. Buffering in the UMDD can reduce the observed delay time of the Ni function perceived by the talking subscriber to a value that is approximately equal to the time required to activate the traffic channel of the talking subscriber. On Fig shows a buffering procedure from the UMD according to one of the embodiments of the invention, the description of which is given below:

(1) The absence of an ongoing telephone call, the traffic channels of the call initiator and the destination are inactive.

(2) Subscribers press the NiG button. The server receives a request from the client to "establish a group telephone connection."

(3) The subscriber is granted the right to a telephone conversation after the client receives the answer “the procedure for establishing a telephone connection is complete” or after a tunable delay (equal to 1 second) from the server, and buffering of media data received from the subscriber begins.

(4) The server begins the process of restoring traffic channels for packet data transmission to the recipients.

(5) The server sends a “group call notification” message to the client through efficiency.

(6) The client successfully restores the traffic channel and starts transmitting buffered media to the server.

(7) The client streams media to the server.

(8) Destination traffic channels are restored (the condition for achieving the “threshold number of responses from recipients” is met).

(9) The subscriber releases the NiG button. The client stops buffering media data.

(10) The client completes the streaming of buffered media to the server and issues a request to the server with a waiver of the right to make a telephone call.

(11) The server sends a confirmation message to the client with a waiver of the right to make a telephone call.

CUSTOMER BUFFERIZATION

In one embodiment of the invention in which it is desirable to provide a shorter observable delay time, the speaking subscriber may be given the opportunity to start talking before even his own traffic channel is restored. Since the client PS does not yet communicate with the UMD, the client PS sends a signal to the talking subscriber to start talking. If the speaking subscriber is allowed to speak before the restoration of the talking channel's traffic channel, the client MS may perform voice buffering (operation 412). Since communication with the CM has not yet been established, then permission to talk is given "optimistically." On Fig shows the buffering procedure on the client side according to one of the embodiments of the invention, the description of which is given below:

(1) No telephone call in progress, the call initiator traffic channel is inactive.

(2) The subscriber presses the NiG button. The client sends to the server a request to "establish a group telephone connection" by means of efficiency.

(3) The client begins the process of restoring the traffic channel for packet data.

(4) The subscriber is granted the right to a telephone conversation after the client receives the answer “the procedure for establishing a telephone connection is complete” or after a tunable delay (equal to 1 second) from the server, and buffering of media data received from the subscriber begins.

(5) The client receives from the server a message with a “group call notification” transmitted through an efficiency.

(6) The client successfully restores the traffic channel.

(7) The client streams buffered media to the server.

(8) The subscriber releases the NiG button. The client stops buffering media data.

(9) The client completes the streaming of buffered media to the server and issues a request to the server with a waiver of the right to make a telephone call.

(10) The client receives from the server a message confirming the receipt of the request with a waiver of the right to a telephone conversation.

In one embodiment of the invention, both buffering procedures: buffering from the UMD side (operation 418) and buffering from the client (operation 412), can function simultaneously. Client-side buffering can provide a small observable delay time for NiG function. In one embodiment of the invention, the client MS to buffer the media in such a way as to control the observed delay time of the Ni function, which the subscriber perceives. The combination of using the efficiency coming from the mobile station and buffering media data from the client can reduce the delays associated with the restoration of active traffic channels.

Therefore, the disclosed embodiments of the invention provide a dispatch model supporting at least two types of dispatch calls, namely, a discussion group model and a dedicated model. In the discussion group model, the groups are predefined, and information about them can be stored in the dispatch server. However, in a specialized model, groups can be defined and / or modified in real time.

The disclosed embodiments of the invention also provide a significant reduction in the actual total time to exit the inactive state and the delay time of the NiG function due to the exchange of group call service signals even when the mobile stations are inactive and there is no active traffic channel. The proposed method and device provide the exchange of service signals of a group call by transmitting service signals using messages in the form of short data packets (COP). The proposed method and device provide recovery of dedicated traffic channels for the mobile station of the talking subscriber and inactive mobile stations of the listening subscribers, which in the preferred embodiment is carried out in parallel.

In another embodiment of the invention, the delay time when exiting an inactive state in a group communication network can be reduced by caching the network-initiated activation messages initiating the inactive exit, which are intended for listening destination subscribers, and the delivery of the activation message initiating the withdrawal from the inactive state to the destination mobile station immediately after restoration by the destination mobile station of its traffic channel.

In another embodiment of the invention, in a mobile station operating in a group communication network, it is possible to prevent a simultaneous call of a service and a paging call by transmitting a response to a request for control of the right to a telephone call after completion of the service call process. In one of the embodiments of the invention, the response to the request for control of the right to a telephone conversation can be implemented in the form of efficiency in the event that the process of calling the service is not completed. In another embodiment of the invention, the service call process for the source communication device is initiated after transmitting the response to the source communication device.

Claims (24)

1. The method of adding a subscriber to a group call in a group communication network used in a communication device, namely, that receive instructions from the subscriber who wants to initiate a group call, transmitting to the server a request for initiating a group call or adding a subscriber to a group call in the presence of an ongoing group call, receiving from the server a response indicating the presence of an ongoing group call, warn the subscriber about adding him to a group call, and receiving media from the server after restoring the traffic channel, and restoring the traffic channel is carried out simultaneously with the execution of the aforementioned request transmission operation. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that said transmission operation includes the operation of transmitting a request on a reverse access channel (R-ACH) of a wireless communication network. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that said transmission operation includes the operation of transmitting a request on a reverse access channel (R-EACCH) of a wireless communication network. 4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it further re-negotiates the radio link protocol (RLP) for the communication device. 5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it further re-negotiates the radio link protocol (RLP) for the communication device while performing the aforementioned request transmission operation. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that said transmission operation includes a request transmission operation in the form of a short data packet (SDB). 7. Readable by a processor, a storage medium used in a communication device, comprising a program according to which the communication device implements the method according to claim 1. 8. Readable by a processor, the storage medium according to claim 7, characterized in that said transmission operation includes the operation of transmitting a request on a reverse access channel (R-ACH) of a wireless communication network. 9. The medium readable by a processor according to claim 7, characterized in that said transmission operation includes an operation for transmitting a request on a reverse access channel (R-EACH) of a wireless communication network. 10. Readable by the processor, the storage medium according to claim 7, characterized in that the said method comprises the following additional operation, which re-negotiate the radio link protocol (RLP) for the communication device. 11. The storage medium readable by a processor according to claim 7, characterized in that said method comprises the following additional operation, which re-negotiates a radio link protocol (RLP) for a communication device while performing said request transmission operation. 12. Readable by the processor, the storage medium according to claim 7, characterized in that said transmission operation includes the operation of transmitting a request in the form of a short data packet (SDB). 13. A communication device for adding a subscriber to a group call in a group communication network, comprising means for receiving instructions from a subscriber desiring to initiate a group call, means for transmitting to the server a request for initiating a group call or adding a subscriber to a group call in case there is an ongoing group call, means for receiving from the server a response indicating the presence of an ongoing group call, means to alert the subscriber to add him to the group call, and means for receiving media data from the server after restoring the traffic channel, the traffic channel being restored simultaneously with the execution of said transmission of the request. 14. The communication device according to item 13, wherein said transmission means comprises means for transmitting a request on a reverse access channel (R-ACH) of a wireless communication network. 15. The communication device according to item 13, wherein said transmission means comprises means for transmitting a request on a reverse access channel (R-EACCH) of a wireless communication network. 16. The communication device according to item 13, characterized in that it further comprises means for re-negotiation of the radio link protocol (RLP) for the communication device. 17. The communication device according to item 13, characterized in that it further comprises means for re-negotiating the radio link protocol (RLP) for the communication device while performing the above request transmission. 18. The communication device according to item 13, wherein the said transmission means comprises a means for transmitting a request in the form of a short data packet (SDB). 19. A communication device for adding a subscriber to a group call in a group communication network, comprising receiver, transmitter and a processor connected to maintain communication with a receiver and a transmitter, wherein the processor is configured to receiving an instruction from a subscriber wishing to initiate a group call, transmitting to the server a request for initiating a group call or adding a subscriber to a group call if there is a group call in progress, receiving from the server a response indicating the presence of an ongoing group call, subscriber warnings about adding him to a group call and receiving media from the server after restoring the traffic channel, the traffic channel being restored simultaneously with the execution of said transmission of the request. 20. The communication device according to claim 19, characterized in that the processor is further configured to transmit a request on a reverse access channel (R-ACH) of a wireless communication network. 21. The communication device according to claim 19, characterized in that the processor is further configured to transmit a request on a reverse access channel (R-EACCH) of a wireless communication network. 22. The communication device according to claim 19, characterized in that the processor is further configured to re-negotiate the radio link protocol (RLP) for the communication device. 23. The communication device according to claim 19, characterized in that the processor is further configured to renegotiate the radio link protocol (RLP) for the communication device while performing said request transmission. 24. The communication device according to claim 19, characterized in that the processor is further configured to transmit a request in the form of a short data packet (SDB).

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